U.S. patent number 8,661,338 [Application Number 10/757,688] was granted by the patent office on 2014-02-25 for system and method for dynamic document layout.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Xerox Corporation. The grantee listed for this patent is Steven J. Harrington, Lisa S. Purvis. Invention is credited to Steven J. Harrington, Lisa S. Purvis.
United States Patent |
8,661,338 |
Purvis , et al. |
February 25, 2014 |
System and method for dynamic document layout
Abstract
A system for case based, dynamic document layout in accordance
with embodiments of the present invention includes a comparison
system, a determination system, and a mutation system. The
comparison system that compares one or more elements of at least a
portion of an original document against the same elements in at
least a portion each of a plurality of stored documents. The
determination system identifies the stored document with the
portion which is closest to the portion of the original document
based on the comparing. The mutation system applies one or mutators
to the portion of the original document which were used in the
portion of the identified stored document.
Inventors: |
Purvis; Lisa S. (Fairport,
NY), Harrington; Steven J. (Webster, NY) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Purvis; Lisa S.
Harrington; Steven J. |
Fairport
Webster |
NY
NY |
US
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Xerox Corporation (Norwalk,
CT)
|
Family
ID: |
34740080 |
Appl.
No.: |
10/757,688 |
Filed: |
January 14, 2004 |
Prior Publication Data
|
|
|
|
Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
|
US 20050154980 A1 |
Jul 14, 2005 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
715/249; 707/620;
382/159; 382/162; 715/247; 707/625; 382/112; 715/210; 715/251;
715/243 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06T
11/60 (20130101); G06F 40/103 (20200101) |
Current International
Class: |
G06F
17/24 (20060101); G06F 17/27 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;715/513,530,523,210,243,247,249,251 ;707/620,625
;382/112,159,162 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Other References
Sandra Haynes, "Microsoft Computer Dictionary, Fifth Edition",
Publisher: Microsoft, p. 171, 372. cited by examiner .
Lisa Purvis, "A Genetic Algorithm Approach to Automated Custom
Document Assembly", Proceedigns of the Second International
Workshop on Intelligent Systems Design and Applicaitons, Aug. 2002,
Atlanta, USA. cited by examiner .
Forrest, S., "Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on
Genetic Algorithms," University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, San Mateo, California, Jul. 17-21,
1993. cited by applicant .
Vanegas et al., "Computing in Civil Engineering," Proceedings of
the Third Congress held in conjunction with A/E/C Systems '96,
Published by the American Society of Civil Engineers, Anaheim
California, Jun. 17-19, 1996. cited by applicant.
|
Primary Examiner: Hong; Stephen
Assistant Examiner: Tsui; Wilson
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A document layout processing device comprising: at least one
processor; at least one memory coupled to the processor configured
to execute programmed instructions stored in the memory comprising:
a comparison system configured to compare one or more elements of
at least a portion of an original document against the same types
of elements in at least a portion each of a plurality of stored
documents, wherein the portion of the original document is the
portion that requires adjustment or re-layout; a determination
system configured to identify a particular stored document in the
plurality of stored documents, with the portion which is closest to
the portion of the original document based on the comparing; an
identification system configured to identify a designated output
device and designated output device characteristics; a mutation
system configured to apply one or more mutators, to the portion of
the original document which were applied to mutate the portion of
the identified particular stored document, to form a mutated
portion in the original document, having obtained one or more
mutators from a list of stored mutators which correspond to the
identified particular stored document, wherein the mutation system
determines which of the one or more mutators to apply based on one
or more designated output device characteristics and the identified
particular stored document that matches the portion of the original
document; and wherein the mutation system is further configured to
apply the determined one or more mutators by retrieving stored
priority data and applying the determined one or more mutators to
the portion of the original document according the retrieved stored
priority order.
2. The document layout processing device as set forth in claim 1
wherein the processor is further configured to execute programmed
instructions stored in the memory comprising a selection system
configured to select the portion of the original document for the
comparing.
3. The document layout processing device as set forth in claim 1
wherein the determination system further comprises a scoring system
configured to generate a score for each of the comparisons of the
portion of the original document against each of the portions of
each of the plurality of stored documents, wherein the
determination system identifies the particular stored document with
the portion with the score which is closest to the portion of the
original document based on the generated scores.
4. The document layout processing device as set forth in claim 1
wherein the processor is further configured to execute programmed
instructions stored in the memory comprising an application system
configured to determine which of the one or more mutators which
were used in the portion of the identified stored document are to
be used by the mutation system on the original document.
5. The document layout processing device as set forth in claim 1
wherein the processor is further configured to execute programmed
instructions stored in the memory comprising an output system which
outputs the original document after application of the one or more
mutators.
6. The document layout processing device as set forth in claim 1
wherein the processor is further configured to execute programmed
instructions stored in the memory comprising storing the modified,
original document with the applied one or more mutators as one of
the stored documents.
7. The device of claim 1, wherein the one or more mutators include
a font type adjustor adapted to electronically adjust a font of the
portion of the original document, at least one color adjustor
adapted to electronically adjust a color of the portion of the
original document, and at least one of a line spacing adjustor and
at least one section location adjustor in the portion of the
original document, adapted to electronically adjust a line spacing
and a section location, respectively, of the portion of the
original document.
8. A method comprising: comparing one or more elements of at least
a portion of an original document against the same types of
elements in at least a portion each of a plurality of stored
documents, wherein the portion of the original document is the
portion that requires adjustment or re-layout; determining a
particular stored document in the plurality of stored documents,
with the portion which is closest to the portion of the original
document based on the comparing; identifying a designated output
device and output device characteristics; applying one or more
mutators to the portion of the original document which were applied
to mutate the portion of the determined particular stored document,
to form a mutated portion in the original document, having obtained
one or more mutators from a list of stored mutators which
correspond to the determined particular stored document, wherein
the applying further comprises determining which of the one or more
stored mutators to apply based on one or more of the
characteristics of the designated output device and the identified
particular stored document that matches the portion of the original
document; and wherein the applying further comprises determining an
order for the applying of the determined one or more mutators to
the portion of the original document, according to stored priority
order.
9. The method as set forth in claim 8 further comprising performing
the comparing, the determining, and the applying on one or more
other portions of the original document.
10. The method as set forth in claim 8 further comprising selecting
the portion of the original document for the comparing.
11. The method as set forth in claim 8 wherein the determining
further comprises: generating a score for each of the comparisons
of the portion of the original document against each of the
portions of each of the plurality of stored documents; and
identifying the particular stored document with the portion with
the score which is closest to the portion of the original document
based on the generated scores.
12. The method as set forth in claim 8 wherein the applying further
comprises determining which of the one or more mutators which were
used in the portion of the identified stored document to use in the
applying.
13. The method as set forth in claim 8 further comprising
outputting the original document after application of the
mutators.
14. The method as set forth in claim 8 further comprising one of
the elements in the comparing is the type of output device used in
the outputting.
15. The method as set forth in claim 8 further comprising storing
the output, original document with the applied mutators as one of
the stored documents.
16. The method as set forth in claim 8, wherein the one or more
mutators include a font type adjustor adapted to electronically
adjust a font of the portion of the original document, at least one
color adjustor adapted to electronically adjust a color of the
portion of the original document, and at least one of a line
spacing adjustor and at least one section location adjustor in the
portion of the original document, adapted to electronically adjust
a line spacing and a section location, respectively, of the portion
of the original document.
17. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon
instructions for dynamic document layout which when executed by a
processor, causes the processor to perform steps comprising:
comparing one or more elements of at least a portion of an original
document against the same types of elements in at least a portion
each of a plurality of stored documents, wherein the portion of the
original document is the portion that requires adjustment or
re-layout; determining a particular stored document, amongst the
plurality of stored documents, with the portion which is closest to
the portion of the original document based on the comparing;
identifying a designated output device and designated output device
characteristics; applying one or more mutators to the portion of
the original document which were applied to mutate the portion of
the identified particular stored document, to form a mutated
portion in the original document, having obtained one or more
mutators from a list of stored mutators which correspond to the
identified stored document, wherein the applying further comprises
determining which of the one or more stored mutators to apply based
on one or more characteristics of the designated output device and
the identified particular stored document that matches the portion
of the original document; the applying further comprises
determining an order for the applying of the determined one or more
mutators to the portion of the original document, according to a
stored priority order.
18. The medium as set forth in claim 17 further comprising
performing the comparing, the determining, and the applying on one
or more other portions of the original document.
19. The medium as set forth in claim 17 further comprising
selecting the portion of the original document for the
comparing.
20. The medium as set forth in claim 17 wherein the determining
further comprises: generating a score for each of the comparisons
of the portion of the original document against each of the
portions of each of the plurality of stored documents; and
identifying the particular stored document with the portion with
the score which is closest to the portion of the original document
based on the generated scores.
21. The medium as set forth in claim 17 wherein the applying
further comprises determining which of the one or more mutators
which were used in the portion of the identified stored document to
use in the applying.
22. The medium as set forth in claim 17 further comprising
outputting the original document after application of the
mutators.
23. The medium as set forth in claim 17 further comprising
identifying an output device on which the outputting of the
original document with the applied mutators will occur wherein one
of the elements in the comparing is the type of output device used
in the outputting.
24. The medium as set forth in claim 17 further comprising storing
the output, original document with the applied mutators as one of
the stored documents.
25. The medium as set forth in claim 17, wherein the one or more
mutators include a font type adjustor adapted to electronically
adjust a font of the portion of the original document, at least one
color adjustor adapted to electronically adjust a color of the
portion of the original document, and at least one of a line
spacing adjustor and at least one section location adjustor in the
portion of the original document, adapted to electronically adjust
a line spacing and a section location, respectively, of the portion
of the original document.
26. A method comprising: comparing one or more elements of at least
a portion of an original document against the same types of
elements in at least a portion each of a plurality of stored
documents, wherein the portion of the original document is the
portion that requires adjustment or re-layout; determining a
particular stored document in the plurality of stored documents,
with the portion which is the closest match to the portion of the
original document based on the comparing; identifying a designated
output device with one or more characteristics; obtaining one or
more mutators from a list of stored mutators which were applied to
mutate the portion of the determined particular stored document;
and applying the obtained one or more mutators to the portion of
the original document based on one or more characteristics of the
designated output device and the applying further based on a stored
priority order.
27. The method as set forth in claim 26 further comprising
performing the comparing, the determining, and the applying on one
or more other portions of the original document.
28. The method as set forth in claim 26 further comprising
selecting the portion of the original document for the
comparing.
29. The method as set forth in claim 26 wherein the determining
further comprises: generating a score for each of the comparisons
of the portion of the original document against each of the
portions of each of the plurality of stored documents; and
identifying the particular stored document with the portion with
the score which is closest to the portion of the original document
based on the generated scores.
30. The method as set forth in claim 26 wherein the applying
further comprises determining which of the one or more mutators
which were used in the portion of the identified stored document to
use in the applying.
31. The method as set forth in claim 26 further comprising
outputting the original document after application of the
mutators.
32. The method as set forth in claim 26 further comprising
identifying an output device on which the outputting of the
original document with the applied mutators will occur wherein one
of the elements in the comparing is the type of output device used
in the outputting.
33. The method as set forth in claim 26 further comprising storing
the output, original document with the applied mutators as one of
the stored documents.
34. The method as set forth in claim 26, wherein the one or more
mutators include at least one of a font type adjustor adapted to
electronically adjust a font of the portion of the original
document, at least one color adjustor adapted to electronically
adjust a color of the portion of the original document, and at
least one of a line spacing adjustor and at least one section
location adjustor in the portion of the original document, adapted
to electronically adjust a line spacing and a section location,
respectively, of the portion of the original document.
Description
FIELD
The present invention relates to systems and methods for case
based, dynamic document layout and, more particularly, to a system
and method for case based, dynamic document layout using case based
mutations.
BACKGROUND
With today's document workflows, the creator of a document often
does not have control over the final appearance of the document.
For example, documents can be posted on and retrieved from the web
or can be emailed to their audience. The individual which has
obtained or received the document selects the printer or display
device on which the document is going to be displayed.
Unfortunately, the document may not be properly formatted for
printing or display on the selected printer or display device.
To resolve this problem, automated document-layout systems have
been developed. These prior document-layout systems have relied on
the use of fixed algorithms and style sheets to determine a
document's layout. Although these types of document-layout systems
work for some applications, the result is rigid, inflexible and
thus limits their use to certain classes of document and types of
layout. Additionally, these types of systems tend to make all
documents look alike which is not always desirable. To that end, a
genetic algorithm approach to layout has been developed, enabling
varying layouts to be automatically generated. For such a genetic
algorithm process, a series of mutations is applied to a layout in
order to evolve it to an optimal layout. However, two challenges
remain in current systems that apply such mutations. First, the
mutation algorithms must be programmed beforehand, and then only
those that have been programmed can be applied. This is a
difficulty since it is not always possible to anticipate beforehand
and create algorithms for all of the possible coordinated mutations
that might be valuable in an automated document-layout scenario. A
second remaining challenge in applying mutations for automated
layout is knowing which mutations to apply, and in what sequence to
apply them. The process detailed in the present invention addresses
both of these challenges.
SUMMARY
A system for case based, dynamic document layout in accordance with
embodiments of the present invention includes a comparison system,
a determination system, and a mutation system. The comparison
system that compares one or more elements of at least a portion of
an original document against the same elements in at least a
portion each of a plurality of stored documents. The determination
system identifies the stored document with the portion which is
closest to the portion of the original document based on the
comparing. The mutation system applies one or more mutators to the
portion of the original document that was used in the portion of
the identified stored document.
A method and a computer readable medium having stored thereon
instructions for case based, dynamic document layout which when
executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform steps
comprising comparing one or more elements of at least a portion of
an original document against the same elements in at least a
portion each of a plurality of stored documents. The stored
document with the portion which is closest to the portion of the
original document is identified based on the comparing. The one or
more mutators are applied to the portion of the original document
that was used in the portion of the identified stored document.
The present invention provides a system and method for a dynamic
document layout that is able to learn new intelligent mutations
during operations. The present invention also determines the most
appropriate sequence of mutators given the current individual's
characteristics. By combining case-based mutations with genetic
algorithms for dynamic document layout, the present invention
provides a more efficient and reliable automated scheme for dynamic
document layout.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system for a dynamic document layout
in accordance with embodiments of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method for a dynamic document layout in
accordance with embodiments of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a screen shot of a displayed document with increased font
size to increase legibility;
FIG. 4 is a screen shot of a displayed document with shorter line
lengths to increase legibility;
FIG. 5 is a screen shot of a document in need of a mutations;
FIG. 6 is a screen shot of the document shown in FIG. 5 with an
inappropriate choice and sequence of mutators; and
FIG. 7 is a screen shot of the document shown in FIG. 5 with an
optimized choice and sequence of mutators.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
A system 10 for dynamic document layout in accordance with
embodiments of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1. The
system 10 includes a document layout processing system 12 and
printers 14 and 16, although the system 10 can comprise other
numbers and types of systems, devices, and components in other
configurations. The present invention provides a system 10 and
method for dynamic document layout that is able to learn new
intelligent mutators during operations and is able to determine the
most appropriate sequence of mutators given a document's current
characteristics.
Referring to FIG. 1, the document layout processing system 12 is
coupled to the printers 14 and 16, although the document layout
processing system 12 could be coupled to other types and numbers of
devices in other configurations. A variety of communication systems
and/or methods can be used to operatively couple and communicate
between the document layout processing system 12 and the printers
14 and 16, including a direct connection, a local area network, a
wide area network, the world wide web, modems and phone lines, or
wireless communication technology each having communications
protocols. In these embodiments, the printers 14 and 16 are coupled
to the document layout processing system 12 by a hard-wire
connection over a local area network, although other types of
connections, devices, and networks, such as a wireless
communication system, could be used.
The document layout processing system 12 includes a processor 18, a
memory storage device 20, a user input device 22, a display device
24, an and an input/output interface device 26 which are coupled
together by a bus 28 or other link, although other types of
document layout processing systems comprising other numbers and
types of components in other configurations can be used. The
processor 18 executes a program of stored instructions for one or
more aspects of the present invention as described herein,
including the method for case based, dynamic document layout as
described with reference to FIG. 2.
The memory storage device 20 stores the programmed instructions for
one or more aspects of the present invention as described herein,
including the method for case based, dynamic document layout as
described with reference to FIG. 2, for execution by the processor
18, although some or all of the programmed instructions could be
stored and/or executed elsewhere, such as in printer 14 or printer
16. A variety of different types of memory storage devices, such as
a random access memory (RAM) or a read only memory (ROM) in the
system or a floppy disk, hard disk, CD ROM, or other computer
readable medium which is read from and/or written to by a magnetic,
optical, or other reading and/or writing system that is coupled to
the processor, could be used for memory storage device 20 to store
the programmed instructions described herein, as well as other
information. The user input device 22 enables an operator to
generate and transmit signals or commands to the processor 18, such
as a request to print or display a document on printer 14 or
printer 16. A variety of different types of user input devices
could be used for user input device 22, such as a keyboard or
computer mouse. The display device 24 displays information for the
operator of the document layout processing system 12, such as an
image of the document layout or the status of the print job at
printer 14. A variety of different types of display devices could
be used for display device 24, such as a display monitor. The
input/output interface system 26 is used to operatively couple and
communicate between the document layout processing system 12 and
the printers 14 and 16.
The printer 14 is coupled to the document layout processing system
12, although other types of devices can be coupled to the document
layout processing system 12. The printer 14 prints documents
received from the document processing system 12. The printer 14 has
a particular set of characteristics when printing a document which
effect the resulting printed image of the document, such as margins
or a particular paper size on which the document is printed. Since
the components of a printer 14, including its connections and
operation, are well known, they will not be described in detail
here.
The printer 16 is also coupled to the document layout processing
system 12, although other types of devices can be coupled to the
document processing system 12. The printer 16 also prints documents
received from the document processing system 12. The printer 16
also has a particular set of characteristics when printing a
document which effect the resulting printed image of the document
which are different from the characteristics of printer 14,
although both printers 14 and 16 could have the same
characteristics when printing a document. Like printer 14, the
components of a printer 16, including their connections and
operation, are well known, they will not be described in detail
here.
A method for a case based, dynamic document layout in accordance
with embodiments of the present invention will now be described
with reference to FIGS. 1-7. In step 100, the document processing
system 12 selects a portion of an original document, although other
portions or all of the original document could be selected for
determining a layout. The portion of the document selected is the
portion that needs re-layout or adjustment. The original document
can be obtained in a variety of different manners, such as
retrieved from the web, from an e-mail attachment, from another
computer system, or from a document created by the operator.
In step 102, the document processing system 12 compares one or more
elements of the selected portion of the original document against
the same types of elements in portions of a plurality of other
stored documents obtained from memory storage device 20, although
other types of comparisons of other numbers and types of elements
and other portions could be used. A variety of different types of
elements could be used by the document processing system 12 in this
comparison, such as font size, font type, number of lines of text,
line spacing, number of alphanumeric characters, size of an outer
perimeter of the arrangement of alphanumeric characters, and number
of images. The document processing system 12 can assign a score to
each comparison, such as one score for a complete match, another
score for a partial match, and no score when there is no match,
although other manners for assigning a score can be used.
In step 104, the document processing system 12 identifies which
stored document with the portion which is closest to the portion of
the original document based on the comparison of the selected
elements. In these embodiments, the document processing system 12
generates a score based on the comparison of the elements of the
selected portion of the original document against the same types of
elements in portions of a plurality of other stored documents. The
document processing system 12 identifies the stored document with
the portion which is closest to the selected portion of the
original document based on the highest generated score, although
the document processing system 12 could use other ways to identify
the stored document with the closest portion.
In step 106, the document processing system 12 obtains the one or
more mutators used in the identified, stored document from memory
storage device 20 for possible use in the selected portion of the
original document. A variety of different types of mutators could
be obtained, such as mutators for adjusting a font of type,
adjusting line spacing, adjusting at least one color, and adjusting
a location of at least one section in the portion of the original
document. For example, the mutator for increasing font size to
increase legibility is illustrated in FIG. 3 and the mutator for
making the line lengths shorter to increase legibility is shown in
FIG. 4, although again other types of mutators alone or in
different combinations could be obtained and used.
Referring back to FIG. 2, in step 108 the document processing
system 12 identifies the device, such as printer 14 or printer 16,
on which the original document is to be displayed. The document
processing system 12 identifies the device based on instructions
received from an operator using user input device 22 requesting a
particular device to display the original document, although other
ways of identifying the display device can be used, such as a
programmed selection in the memory storage device 20 of document
processing system 12 to use a particular printer 14 or 16 for a
print job. As part of the identification process, the document
processing system 12 obtains information from memory storage device
20 about the characteristics of the device, although other ways of
obtaining information about the characteristics of the device can
be used, such as an inquiry by the document processing system 12 to
the device, such as printer 14 or 16, for the information.
In step 110, the document processing system 12 determines which of
the one or more mutators obtained from the identified, stored
document to use on the selected portion of the original document.
The document processing system 12 determines which of the mutators
to use based on the characteristics of the device on which the
original document is going to be displayed and based on one or more
elements of the original document, although other manners for
determining which of the mutators to select can be used. For
example, if the printer 14 selected for the printing job is a
black-and-white printer, then a mutator for altering color obtained
from the identified, stored document is irrelevant and would not
used by the document processing system 12. In another example, the
document processing system 12 could have lists of mutators stored
in memory 20 which are associated with particular types of
documents, such as for text documents, documents with text and
images, and documents with images, and then the document processing
system 12 would determine to use the obtained mutators that were on
appropriate stored list for the type of document that matches the
portion of the original document or the original document.
The document processing system 12 also determines using one or more
algorithms for document layout stored in memory storage device 20
and one or more other style sheets stored in memory storage device
20 one or more other mutators to apply to the selected portion of
the original document, although other manners for determining
which, if any, other the mutators to use can be implemented.
Standard or generic algorithms and methods for determining mutators
and other parameters for document layout, which are stored as
programmed instructions for execution by document processing system
12, are disclosed in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No.
10/202,046 for a, "Constraint-Optimization System and Method for
Document Component Layout Generation" and pending U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 10/202,188 for a, "Constraint-Optimization
System and Method for Document Component Layout Generation" which
are both herein incorporated by reference in their entirety. Since
these algorithms and methods used in determining mutators for
standard or generic document layout are well known, they will not
be described in detail here again.
In step 112, the document processing system 12 determines an order
or sequence for applying the one or more obtained mutators and the
one or more determined mutators to the selected portion of the
original document. In these particular embodiments, the document
processing system 12 determines the order based on the order the
obtained mutators were used in the identified, stored document,
although other manners for determining the order for applying the
mutators could be used. For example, the ordering may be a learned
function based on noting the effectiveness of orderings on the
document quality measure. In another example, the selected order
for applying mutators could be based on a predetermined priority
order for applying mutators which is stored in memory 20. The
document processing system 12 would determine where each of the
obtained mutators occurred in the stored priority order and then
would base the order of applying the mutators based on this
determination.
In step 114, the document processing system 12 applies the selected
one or more obtained mutators and the one or more determined
mutators in the determined ordered order to the selected portion of
the original document. Since methods for applying mutators to a
document are well known, they will not be described in detail here
again.
By way of example only, a document which needs a new document
layout for display is illustrated in FIG. 5. If the present
invention is not utilized, then the application of mutators to the
document can result in an inappropriate choice and sequence of
applying mutators to the document as illustrated in FIG. 6. If the
present invention is utilized, then the choice and sequence of the
applied mutators produces a desired result for the document to be
displayed as illustrated in FIG. 7.
In step 116, the document processing system 12 stores the selected
portion of the original document with the applied mutators as one
of the stored documents in memory storage device 20. The newly
stored portion of the original document can now be used to assist
with determining the layout of other portions of the original
document or of other documents to be displayed.
In step 118, the document processing system 12 determines if
another portion of the original document should be selected for
determining a dynamic document layout. If one or more additional
portions in the original document are desired to be selected, for
example if other portions of the original document have not already
been selected, then the Yes branch is taken to step 1102 where the
process for determining a dynamic document layout begins again for
the newly selected portion of the original document in the same
manner as described above. If no more portions in the original
document are desired to be selected, for example if the entire
original document was selected for processing or all of the
portions of the original document have already been selected, then
the No branch is taken to step 120 where the process for
determining a dynamic document layout ends.
Although one embodiment of the method for a case based, dynamic
document layout for one embodiment of the present invention is
described above, other embodiments of the present invention can
have other combinations of the steps without some of these steps,
such as one or more of the steps 108, 110, 112, 116, and 118 which
are described in greater detail above. By way of example, another
embodiment of the method for a case based, dynamic document layout
comprises performing the steps 100, 102, 104, 106, 114, 116, 118,
and 120 described in greater detail above.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a case-based approach
to applying mutators to a document to obtain a desirable document
layout. The present invention also continuously stores the
determined layouts for use in determining the layout of future
documents. By combining case-based mutators with genetic algorithms
for dynamic document layout, the present invention provides a more
efficient and reliable automated scheme for dynamic document
layout.
Having thus described the basic concept of the invention, it will
be rather apparent to those skilled in the art that the foregoing
detailed disclosure is intended to be presented by way of example
only, and is not limiting. Various alterations, improvements, and
modifications will occur and are intended to those skilled in the
art, though not expressly stated herein. These alterations,
improvements, and modifications are intended to be suggested
hereby, and are within the spirit and scope of the invention.
Additionally, the recited order of processing elements or
sequences, or the use of numbers, letters, or other designations
therefor, is not intended to limit the claimed processes to any
order except as may be specified in the claims. Accordingly, the
invention is limited only by the following claims and equivalents
thereto.
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